Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding published on 4 June 2020 by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Service that providers of adult social care services may face more than £6.6 billion in extra costs as a result of the covid-19 outbreak by the end of September 2020, what assessment he has made of the implications of that finding for his policies on adult social care; and whether he has plans to mitigate those costs to those providers.

We recognise that COVID-19 is imposing significant pressures on the social care sector. We have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including in adult social care.

On 15 May we published details of an additional £600 million Infection Control Fund for Adult Social Care. This funding is to support adult social care providers in England reduce the rate of transmission in and between care homes and to support workforce resilience.